A Pokémon One-Shot Collection
by Jeremy Hillary Boob
Summary: A collection of short One-Shots about different pokémon species, based on their pokédex entries.
1. Black bird of doom

**Hello and welcome to this fic. As its title suggests, it consists on a series of unconnected One-Shots, all about a different pokémon. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon.**

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The moon shone above the forest. Narrow beams of her weak light pierced trough the tops of the trees until they met the bark or the forest floor, leaving small patches of light there where they fell. No sound could be heard, except for the distant howls of a Houndour pack. Most of the forest pokémon were already asleep inside their burrows, and those who took advantage of the night to look for food didn't dare to make even the quietest of sounds. The ones which were preyed upon, to go unnoticed; the hunters, to trick their food into a false sense of security that would make them more vulnerable and prone to making mistakes.

Suddenly, the silence of the forest was broken when a young male human appeared. His screams of panic echoed through the trees, awaking the sleeping pokémon and drawing to him the gazes of the ones who were already awake; who wondered what could possibly have happened for him to be so terrified and to give out such horrified silently watched him as he ran in fear between the trees as fast as if a pack of Houndour was chasing him with the intention of turning him into their dinner.

The answer they were awaiting for came only a few seconds after, when a Murkrow flew behind the human, turning here and there on her path to avoid colliding into a tree. She wore a look of concern on her face, and every few seconds she would caw a worried plea for the human to stop running and listen to her, which always went ignored.

The forest pokémon watched the scene in surprise, and, as soon as it ended, they went back to hunting or avoiding the hunters. That had surely been unexpected, they thought. What on Earth could have possesed that human to make him reject the aid that Murkrow was offering him? But the answer to that question was one they could live without. Gathering food and surviving another night was far more important.

The human, however, did concern the Murkrow. She had belonged to a trainer for a few years, until she had been freed by her trainer just before her death; and those few years she had spent living with her trainer had given her a liking for the human species, as well as respect for them and the way some of them treated pokémon, and also a willingness to help them whenever she saw a troubled human. But she didn't understand why he was running away from her in panic and shouting to leave him alone.

"Follow me!" she cawed once more. She had lost count of how many times she had said it, but she didn't mind. She was going to get this human to safety, even if it killed her. "Follow me if you want to find the way."

"Leave me alone, you evil monster!" the boy cried, daring not to look behind him. He was determined not to follow her, no matter what happened. Nothing could be worse than following a Murkrow in the dead of night, his grandma had always warned him. "You've already brought me the worst of lucks; and I will not let you lead me to doom, you damned bird of evil."

Surprised, and a bit hurt by the insults of the boy, the Murkrow continued flying forward. Ignorant of what the humans told to each other about her species, she was unable to understand why he had reacted in that way to her presence.

Why was he so afraid of her? She had done nothing to him. If only she could speak human tongue and make him understand she meant no evil and only wanted to help him. But she couldn't, and that left her only with the option of insisting until he accepted her help.

"You don't understand," she cawed in a worried tone. "I'm only trying to help you. Why are you running from me?"

"Back off, you filthy demon!" the boy shouted, still running from the Murkrow. "You will not confuse me by playing innocent. I know what you Murkrow are up to."

"But what on Earth is he talking about?", she thought. She didn't mean any harm to him. She only wanted to guide him through the forest to safety. She didn't know what humans thought of her species, and now that she had discovered humans feared and loathed them she didn't want to know.

"I don't want to doom you!" she cried in desperation, her hopes of him listening to her quickly diminishing. "Please, stop and turn around!"

But once more the boy paid no attention to her and did not slow down his race. He turned his head briefly to see if the Murkrow was still behind him, and then he quickened his pace, jumping over a tree root and passing between two thick tree trunks.

A feeling of fear washed over the pokémon's small body when she realised which way the boy was heading. With a look of resolution on her face, she forced herself to fly faster. She had to get past the boy and force him to turn around. If she couldn't... She cringed. She didn't want to think about what would happen then.

"Stop and turn around!" she cawed in a powerful shout, and then rushed to position herself in front of him.

Unfortunately, her powerful cry made the boy turn around in fear; and when he realised the Murkrow was coming for him his eyes widened in fear and he let out a piercing scream. His mind became filled with the desire of running away from her; and he sped up, wishing he could outrun the pokémon.

A few yards in front of him, he saw a wall of small bushes interrupting his way. But he wouldn't let them obstruct him. With a smile of confidence on his face, he stretched his right leg and jumped over the plants.

"No!" the Murkrow cried, but it was already too late.

A horrifying scream broke the silence of the night. It was very loud at first, but it quickly faded away, as if the one who had let it out was quickly moving. As soon as it reached the Murkrow's ears, grief washed over her body, and tears came to her eyes. She then flew past the bushes, and over the horribly deep cliff that opened just behind them. She didn't even try to see into the darkness and look for the boy. She knew it was pointless. There was no possible way he could have survived a two hundred and sixty feet fall.

With tears freely flowing from her eyes, she perched on one of the bushes and continued crying, her closed and tear-covered eyes pointing to the night sky, to the stars she couldn't see. She felt so horrible...

Why did he have to die? It utterly pained her to see such a young human die in front of her eyes. So many broken dreams, so many shattered hopes, so many years ahead of him that now would never be lived...

Why did it have to end like this? Why didn't he listen to her? Why did he go on running? Why was he so afraid of her?

So many questions through her brain, and not a single answer to any of them.

Her intention was to help him. Why did he reject her help and say something about her bringing doom to him?

The moon shone in the sky as the Murkrow drowned herself in a sea of unanswered questions. What could possibly made him react that way? What was that he had said about her bringing doom to him? Could that be why he ran away in panic?

Suddenly, she felt a stabbing pang of guilt in her gut. Could it have been her fault? Could she really be responsible for his death? Even if she had a completely different purpose, in the end she had ended up doing what he feared.

Was she to blame for his death?

She didn't know. She didn't know if she wanted to know.

The Murkrow shook her head energically in an attempt to get the tears out of her eyes, and then she took flight into the forest. The boy would certainly not be the last human to get lost in the forest; nor would he be the last one to walk towards the cliff. And that meant that is was very likely that some clueless human suffered the same destiny.

And there was where she came on the scene. She would be the one to avoid any more similar deaths. Now she knew that humans feared her. Now she knew humans fled from her. And that was something she could take advantage of.

She would give chase to the humans who wandered too near from the abyss, and at the same time make threm run in fear until they found a safe way into a human town.

It was the least she could do after making that poor boy fall to his death.


	2. Curse of the curse bringers

Humans seem to love us Ninetales. They love the vulpine shape of our body. They love our white, stainless fur, the way it shines and glistens under the light. They also love our innate elegance and the way we display it, both in a contest and in the middle of a pokémon battle. There is only one thing humans don't like of a Ninetales: its nine pristine tails.

Well, maybe I'm exaggerating it. Of course they like our tails. I've heard a lot of compliments towards them, mostly by young female humans who would then pat me in the head and stroke the fur on my back. Some of them would be a bit more adventurous, scratching my neck and tickling my belly. But none of them ever dared to get their hands near one of my tails.

That's due to the legend; that old tale that assures that he who grabs a Ninetales's tail will be struck by a thousand year long curse. Every human knows it, even babies out of their cribs. Some humans think that it's not true, maybe because it's a very old legend. But as a Ninetales, I must say that the legend is actually true. Should somebody be foolish enough to grab one of our tails, horrible luck and non-stop hardships will befall them and their descendants until a millenium has passed, or until their family has vanished from Earth. But the bit about us acting as mere spectators, looking at them from the distance while sadistically enjoying the punishment they brought upon themselves, is completely untrue. I know some of us do, but the majority of our kin are not happy-go-lucky curse bringers. A millenium-long curse is a horrible weight on a family's shoulders; one we never like to put.

What very few humans know, however, is that there is something more to the legend. And that is that, in reality, only those who knowingly and disregarding the consequences decide to grab a Ninetales' tail are afflicted by our curse. Those who don't know about it, touch one of our tails by accident or that we trust, will be spared. And my own trainer is a perfect example of this. Every time she grooms me, she also grooms my tails. And to do that, she must hold them in her hands. But nothing has ever, nor will ever, happen to her; since I trust her and I know she only does it for me to be clean and look my best.

But we Ninetales are not only curse bringers. That is not the whole truth about our species. For there is something about our kin that no outsider knows.

That we Ninetales, the feared and revered curse bringers, sport a curse of our own in the form of a thousand-year-long life.

I know humans would kill for such a long lifespan. I've heard some of them talking how they'd like to live forever and be eternally young. Some even said they envied us Ninetales for living such a long time.

But I strongly doubt they'd do if they knew the hard truth about us.

For we Ninetales loathe our lifespan. We loathe it for what it implies.

Most pokémon live for a few years. We do not. We live for many centuries. And that means we have to part with everyone dear to us. Our trainers, our mates, even our children and grandchildren. We are condemned to experience the deaths of everyone we loved, knowing that nothing can be done to avoid them, and that we will be forced to endure the same feelings time and again with no chance of ever escaping the cycle until our lifespan is finally over.

And that is utterly devastating. To watch every pokémon or human I loved die, and specially to know that it will go on happening, that I will go on living while everyone I knew dies, one by one.

It breaks my heart everytime it happens. It truly does. It is a horrible feeling, one that crushes my heart and makes me hate myself and my life. But I am forced to go on. To go on because of those near to me. I know they wouldn't have liked me giving up on centuries of life to escape the regret and heartbreak.

To go on while the ones around us slowly disappear. Such is the curse of the Ninetales' kin.

But soon, I will break free from it. At eight hundred and forty six years old, there isn't much time left for me.

And that gives me hope. And it even makes every new death a teeny bit more bearable.

Because deep down, I know that every second the day draws nearer.

The day I will finally be free from my own thousand-year-long curse.


	3. Under the aegis of Aegislash

The campsite was bustling with activity. Pokémon and humans who wore shiny iron armours could be seen everywhere, transporting heavy wooden boxes full of swords and shields, pushing carts filled to the brim with food or practising their moves with their weapons for the oncoming battle. The noise of iron colliding agains steel was deafening for those next to the training fields, and it mixed with the camp voices to create an absorbing noise which buffered any other sound.

Unnoticed by everybody, a short Loudred came out of the central tent and climbed the wooden platform in front of it. Then, he coughed to clear his voice, and let out a powerful bellow that caught everybody's attention. Aware of its meaning, both pokémon and humans left whatever they were doing and walked to the podium, while the Loudred continued bellowing for everyone to gather in front of the tent.

A murmuring filled with rumours and assumptions soon spread trough the crowd, but it died as soon as a tall, muscular human emerged from the tent. He had black hair and brown eyes, wore a golden armour and helmet, which shone under the sunlight. A purple cape fell over his back, and a golden shield and sword, which had two violet wing-like ornaments below the shield, were on his belt.

He walked to the platform, and once he was on it he unsheathed his sword, holding it up in the air and pointing to the sky. Two ghostly hands suddenly appeared oh the blade, one holding the shield and the other grasping nothing. A purple eye opened and turned to look at the crowd, revealing them at the same time that what they thought was a sword was in fact an Aegislash.

As soon as the soldiers saw the sword pokémon, they broke up in cheers. Not a few of them knew the legend about what happen to the humans they recognised as fit, and that gave them the security they needed to face the upcoming battle.

"Listen to me," the tall human exclaimed, without even waiting for the cheers to dissapear. The sheer power of his voice was enough to rise over his troopes and make the cheers die out. "Tomorrow morning, we will face our last battle. We will be fighting against General Tyrrell's army." He opened his arms, and pointed at the crowd with the tip of his sword. "And I promise you, we will win."

The roaring returned, but only for a brief second before their leader started talking again.

"Aegislash has chosen me," he proudly declared, swinging the pokémon in the air as he would with a sword. "And Aegislash only deem to-be-kings trustworthy enough to fight alongside them." He made a dramatic pause, lowered the pokémon and continued: "Men, I promise you that tomorrow we will defeat General Tyrrell for good; and in no longer than one week I will be proclaimed king. And then, you will be rewarded for your efforts. What do you say, my men and pokémon? Will you fight alongside me in the last battle?"

The crowd broke up in an colletive affirmative roar, and the tall human's lips moved until they formed a broad smile on his face. They were his. They would fight for him until the end.

Unbeknownst to him, the Aegislash in his hand also smiled. This human had been so easy trick, so easy to control, so easy to make him unknowingly give him the blood and the pain he so much craved... The mere thought made him want to laugh and mock him, but he forced himself not to. After all, a battle was awaiting for him the following day.

All the pain, all the pokémon and humans that would die, all the blood that would be shed, made him shudder. His psychotic dream of crimson and death was so close to coming true...

And the human, lost in his dreams of wealth and power, would never suspect he had been utilised.


	4. Space explorer

**New chapter, written for the Writers Anonymous 10 Year Challenge**

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The little Elgyem gave another look at his starship, and swallowed hard. His heartbeat was quick and strong, and it drummed hard in his eardrums.

That was it. The moment had come.

He was leaving his planet.

The light blue pokémon lifted his gaze to the rocket, and fear appeared in his big, oval jade eyes. His breathing became quicker, and his red and yellow palm lights lit up, as they did whenever he felt terrified. For a brief second, he wondered why he had agreed to his, but then he remembered.

A few years ago, an astronomer had discovered an inhabitable planet orbiting a nearby star. Immediately, the planet's Supreme Council had taken an interest in her findings, ans shortly after an exploration project had begun, motivated not by the urgent need to find another planet for their species to live in, but by purely economical reasons. Some raw materials, such as nitrogen and iron, were extremely scarce on their planet, and they had to be imported from others at an enormous cost. If they managed to find another planet in which they were common, and theirs to extract, their perpetually loss-making economies, which caused increasing taxes and general dissatisfaction among the populace, could be improved.

And that's where he came in. He was the chosen explorer of the new planet. He would spend ten years away from his planet, travelling through hundred of lightyears of distance, to arrive at the chosen planet and determine whether it was or not suitable to establish a commercial colony on it.

He silently thanked the Beheeyem scientist who had discovered the hiperspace travel. If not for her, his trip would have lasted thousands of years, making it completely impractical and its possible results total moot.

But still, ten years... Ten years was a very long time to spend alone.

He knew well the risks such a long travel brought along. He had been told, and been made sure to understand, that he would be exposing himself to a variety of physical and mental risks, including cosmic radiation, muscle and bone atrophy, sleep difficulties and possible insanity due to the long periods he would spend in total isolation. He'd understood them all, and had agreed to take the risk.

They paid extremely well. And his family needed the money.

They had incurred a huge debt when his mother's company had gone bankrupt. He did not know the exact figures, but he did know that it was around seventy million geyma, a more than enough quantity for a family to live on for the rest of their lives. And a quantity his family could never manage to pay, which meant they would be imprisoned for being delinquent debtors, probably on life sentences. If there was a crime the Elgyem society considered severe, that was being a delinquent debtor.

And then, the ten-year-ling space trip had appeared, along with the hundred million geyma that would be bestowed upon the brave Elgyem who agreed to face the risks of the travel and explore an unknown planet for the glory and wealth of his own.

Immediately after learning of it, the little Elgyem knew exactly what he had to do. This was the only chance he'd ever have to save his family from incarceration, even if he would not see them for ten long years. And that was supposing he would return to his world.

The little Elgyem swallowed, and started walking to the starship gate with small and slow steps, letting his last steps drag on as much as he could. And, the closer he came to the rocket, the more tears welled up in his eyes, and the darker his eyes became. Who knew if he would ever walk on Elgemya again?

When his left foot crossed the huge, metallic door of the starship, the first tear fell from his eye. When his right foot came inside, the dam finally broke.

The little Elgyen fell to the floor, a sharp and acute metallic sound spread through the air when his light blue knees hit it. His body bent forward around his waist, and he buried his head on his hands, which were lying on the cold metal floor, devoid of their strength. Soon, they were covered in tears.

Why him? Why did his mother's company have to go bankrupt? Why did he have to leave? Why did he have to spend the next ten years of his life away from his family, with no way of ever contacting them? Why did he have to put his life at stake in a wild, unknown planet, where anything and any creature could end his life as if he were nothing more than prey for them? Why did it have to happen to him?

He knew that mulling those questions in his head over and over would neither do him any good nor bring him closer to the answer. But he kept doing it because it made him cry. And crying, he did know, was cathartic.

At least his family was not there, watching him crying his heart out, on his knees on the cold aluminium floor of the rocket. He knew he couldn't stand them seeing him break down in front of them. Not showing his feelings showed strength, showing them meant weakness. And weaklings who cried in the open enjoyed no respect from fellow Elgemya citizens.

That was why he had acted so cold in his farewell. He had wanted wanted to crush his mother and his little sisters in a bear hug while crying his heart out, but instead of it, he had just bowed his head to them and muttered a canned farewell, trying to sound calm and emotionless when his heart was actually torn and his tears threatened to burst. Just like the had done with their farewells. Though he thought he had seen a tiny, shiny tear forming in his mother's eye when she had turned around to leave.

The little Elgyem sniffed, and wiped his tears off his eye. However, as soon as it was clean, his tears flooded it back again.

He was leaving. These were the last minutes he would spend on his planet. After that, ten long years of isolation and exploration in an unexplored planet awaited him.

And he had to do it. For his family.

Summoning all the strength he had, he wiped his tears once more, and rose slowly to his feet. He did not want to leave. He did not want to spend the next ten years of his life hundreds of light-years away from his family. But they were the reason why he was doing this.

Very slowly, he turned around to the starship door, looking at the exterior; and lifted his left palm. The yellow light at the bottom of his palm blinked twice, and after that the green light lit for two seconds.

With a metallic crash that shook the inside of the rocket, the starship door closed behind him like a ravenous maw. Just a few seconds after that, the seventeen second-long countdown began.

The deep voice of the officer-in-command Beheeyem kept ringing in his ears and terrified him, but he swallowed hard and started to walk towards his chair, ignoring the feeling in his legs. If he didn't make it to his chair and was secured to it before the officer reached zero, he would not survive the intense g-forces he would suffer during take off.

Fortunately for him, he reached his chair with seven seconds left, and fastening himself to it only took him two seconds. He took a deep sigh, and put his hands over the controls of the starship just as the commander spoke the number four.

He lifted his gaze, and looked through the window, at the gray walls, at the launchpad, at anything that wasn't inside the starship. A few tears welled up in his eyes.

Three.

He could feel the engines starting, dozens of meters below him. Their raw power made the whole rocket vibrate. He felt the insides of his body churning and tying into a knot.

Two.

The vibrations grew stronger. A tear ran down his face, and he lifted his hand to wipe it; but soon more tears came to fill for them.

One.

He had a last blurred look at his planet though the screen of his tears. Ten years outside of it were going to be a very long time. He buried his head in his hands and cried.

And the spaceship took off.


	5. Back for revenge

**Written for the WA Broken Object challenge. If you come from the Writers ANonymous forum and aren't familiar with the pokémon fandom, it's recommended that you read some info on the pokémon Banette before starting, specially pokédex entries. For example, google "bulbapedia banette" and click on the "pokédex entries" section on the Contents menu on the left.**

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"Five-nil, man! Five-nil. Are you even playing?"

"Shut up, man! That's just because you chose Nimbasa Zebstrikas. Using best team is for noobs."

"Yeah, that's why you got Casteila United. Face it, man, you just suck at this game, big time."

Steve huffed in annoyance, then swore again after I scored a sixth goal.

"Ooh, six-nil, man, six-nil!" I laughed boastfully. "Seriously, just get five players sent out, that's just a two-nil!"

"Yeah, whatever, man," he grumbled annoyedly. He then pointed at the screen with his right index. "Can't you just make the commentatopr shut up? He's really pissing me off with all the crap comments he's saying." I paused the game and reached out for the remote, and then pressed the mute button before resuming. Steve let out a satisfied grumble. "And isn't this the guy who lent his voice the one who humiliated a beggar live before the Cup Final?"

"Think so," I answered. The virtual match ended, and I threw up my arms in victory. "Oooh, six-nil, man. Tore you to pieces there, Steve."

"Yeah, whatever, man," he answered with indifference, and stood up from the bed.

"Hey, want a rematch?" I asked, and put the cursor over the "New Match" option. After the beating i had just inflicted him, offering him a rematch was only fair.

Steve turned his head left to look at the clock over my nightstand, and shook his head no.

"Nah, I think I'll pass. It's seven thirty, and I still haven't finished that stupid essay on pokémon fighting and cruelty towards pokémon."

"Oh, yeah, that Haven't finished, or haven't started," I teased.

"Finished, you idiot! I've already got three pages down."

I laughed and told Steve I was just joking, and he shook his head with a small smile on his lips. Talking and joking between us, we got to the house door. we said oir goodbyes, and he bent down to pick up his school pack. However, just before grabbing it by the straps, he got back up with a decomposed face, and quickly raised again.

"Sorry, man, gotta use the bath. It's an emergency," he quickly whispered in my ear, before stroming off for the bathroom.

I looked at him make a desperate dash for the bedroom door while trying to maintain a straight face, and I broke into a fit of laughter as soon as he'd closed it. Oh, man, the face he'd put on. It was just so good. If only I'd had my mobile phone on me to catch it...

Still laughing, I entered my room to unplug the game console and order the things on my desk. I'd teased Steve about the esay, but actually I hadn't even started it. Nor did I have any idea about what to write, for that matter.

"Nah, I'll just copy-paste something from the Internet and rewrite it or something," I thought to myself, and I pressed the on button on the computer. The green and yellow lights lit, and the computer came to life with some mechanical sounds about a second later.

"Giving in somebody else's essay as your own?" said a sardonic voice inside my head. "That's plagiarism, you know. And a sure way to fail the subject if you get caught."

"Hey, shut up, conscience. It's not like the teacher actually checks or anything."

"Conscience?" the voice asked, half surprised and half mocking. "You think this is your conscience speaking? C'mon, Al, we both know you don't have one."

I felt my blood turn into ice inside my veins and my muscles turn into stone. If it wasn't my conscience speaking to me, then who could have...?

A pained grunt sounded in my brainand less than a second later an immaterial string coiled around the inside of my throat. Terrified, I tried to scream, only to discover that my voice was completely gone.

"Don't worry," the voice said in my head while my hands touched all over my throat, trying to find whatever was preventing my voice from escaping. "It's only temporary, while we talk. You'll recover your voice after we are finished." And how did he expect us to have a conversation if I wasn't able to say a word? "I will hear anything you think, so be very careful with your thoughts."

My vision started trembling. Only after looking down did I realise that it was because my legs were shaking.

"So... You know everything I think, right...?" I started, trying my best not to seem terrified, even though deep inside I knew he already knew I was. "First off, who are you, and where are you?"

The second I finished thinking those words, a demoniclaugh came into my mind, so creepy and sardonic that it made all the hairs in my body stand on end and my teeth to start chattering.

"Well, of course you want to learn about me, don't you? I'll be fair. I am sitting right on your nightstand."

Immediately, I turned around, and my eyes shot open when I finally saw who I had been talking with the whole time.

On my nightstand, a pokémon was sitting, and it was unlike any other pokémon I had ever seen. It was small, and its body, whose shape reminded me of a plushie doll, was completely black, except for its fluffy yellow tail; and the way his head stretched and became thinner almost reminded me of a Santa hat. Some stitch marks were clearly visible on its belly, almost as if it had originally been two different parts that somebody had sewn together. Tens, no, dozens of short black pins were pinned all over its body. Its mouth was a row of yellow teeth, the one most on the right longer and thinner than the rest. Above them, its two big red eyes shone with fury, almost as if they wanted me to die right where I was standing. It was so intense, I could not hold it.

I would have swallowed, but the fear that clutched my body had made my mouth dry. I looked at it again, its strange shape, its yellow teeth, the various short pins stuck all over its body; and decided it had to be a nightmare. It was the only reasonable option.

And once more, my thought was received with a loud and mocking laugh, the very same laugh that I was hearing since I entered my room.

"A nightmare, you think?" it said, exactly in the same tone as its laughs, and then tried to cross his legs, which were too short to allow him. "No, Al, dear, this is not a nightmare."

Suddenly, five short, black pins appeared floating in mid air, seemingly out of nowhere. They spun around their axis for a minute, and then charged towards its black body and driving into his body until only their heads were visible. The second they made contact, the pokémon gave a piercing scream of pain that went right through my soul, and fell to the floor with a soft thud, where he just stood on four legs, panting.

I just continued looking at it, terrified by what I had just seen, not knowing whether to help it or not. A few seconds later, it raised its head and looked directly at me. Its eyes were even redder than before, and burned with such fury that for a moment I feared it would kill me there and then.

"The nightmare," it whispered with a crazed expression and a broad yellow smile on its face "is about to begin."

An icy pit opened just brelow my stomach, and my legs finally gave way. With a loud crash, I fell to the floor, a jolt of pain radiating from my left arm, though it didn't seem to be broken. Gripping it with my right one, I lifted my head, only to look directly into the two bright red pits of fury that stared straight into my soul, and I instantly lowered my head again.

On all fours, and looking at the floor, it almost looked as if I was apologising to him. But I wasn't. I was silently begging for anything, anybody, that could save me from the wrath of the infuriated pokémon in front of me, and trying to hold back the tears that were wetting my eyes.

I didn't want to cry in front of it. It could have me shaking in fear and my legs clattering, but I wasn't going to give him the pleasure of seeing me cry. It was an honour thing.

"You want something to save you from me?" it asked, and accompanied his question with a loud laugh. "Stop wasting your time. Nothing in this world will."

I took in a sharp breath and covered my face with my hands.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked in a weak voicenot daring to look at him. "What have I done to you?"

A wave of sheer wrath traversed the room. I curled up into a ball, hyperventilating and begging to make it out alive. Then, after a few seconds, its laugh, mocking and ominous, reached my mind. Terrified, I covered my ears to stop hearing it, but it was in vain.

"You don't know? You don't know?!" it roared, and I curled even tighter, trying to hide all my vital points from the furious pokémon. It remained silent for a second, and after that it laughed once more; but this time it was neither creepy not mocking. "Of course," it said, furious. "Of course you don't remember me. After all, I never meant anything to you, did I?"

But how could I know? How could I know why it was in my room, terrorising me and talking about it mattering to me, when I didn't even know who it was? Just how?

"Oh, right," it said suddenly, as if it had just remembered. "I never told you who I was. Tell me, do you happen to remember the name 'Pashy'?"

My body froze in an instant, the same instant in which my pupils shrunk into two blank pin heads. No. It couldn't be. It was impossible.

Again, his mocking laugh echoed in my mind.

"You think it's impossible, don't you?" it said. Less than a second later, a muffled moan of pain reached my mind. "I'd love to nail you for that, but I'll be fair." It panted at least twice per second. Sticking pins in itself sure had to be traumatic for the poor creature, so why did it go on doing it? Did I even want to know? "After all, who would think that their 'beloved' Lillipup plushie that they threw away as if it were rubbish would come back for them?"

And in that instant, my mind connected the dots. And I felt a shameful warmth inside my trousers.

It was a Banette. Pashy was now a Banette. We didn't have them in Teselia, but I'd heard about them in the Internet. It now despised me and longed to have its revenge against me.

I could feel the warm tears going down my face. I didn't want to die. Not at fourteen. Not before being able to get my hands on the car my parents had promised me for my eighteenth birthday. Not before banging Katie.

"Pashy... Pashy please don't..."

"Shut up!" it roared, so violently that my mouth colsed instantly. "Don't you dare to call me Pashy! You don't deserve to use my name!"

Instantly, I did as it ordered and closed my mouth. Furious pants echoed in my mind. If I so much as ticked it, I was an instant goner.

"You know what has brought me here? Do you know?!" I didn't dare to move a single muscle, even though I knew. "My hatred for you. It has fueled me me for weeks, months, years; from the trash bin you threw me in after breaking me to your room. And now, seven years, four months and seventeen days later" it said ominously, and I had no doubt that it was raising its stubby arms "the time to exact my revenge has finally come!"

As soon as I heard its maniacal laugh, panic possessed me, and even more tears fell from my eyes. Everything was over. The Banette had gone completely crazy with power, and it was gonna kill me. I was going to die. I was dead. At fourteen. A virgin. At the hands of my own plushie.

"I have waited so many years just for this moment," it said, and laughed again. "Just to have a chance to take my revenge against the human who broke me!" it barked, and I winced. "Don't you remember? You tore me in half when I was old and worn down so that your mother would buy you a new plushie! You broke me, and then you threw me away as if I were nothing more than useless garbage!"

Unable to hold back my tears, I cried even harder. I did remember it. I did remember seeing a brand new Zebstrika plushie, and tearing old Pashy so that I had an excuse for my mother to buy it. If only I had known it back then. If only I had known that, seven years later, Pashy would be back in my room, furious, half crazed and wishing to destroy me.

"But you know what? I'm not going to kill you."

What?

"I'm not going to kill you," it repeated. "Killing you doesn't fit my revenge plan."

I should have known there was something wrong in that instant. Pashy had plotted its revenge for seven long years, it had scared the crap out of me, making me believe I was going to die just there, and it suddenly said that it didn't want to end my life, like I had done to him when I tore it apart. But I did not. Because I was a stupid fourteen year old boy who couldn't just believe he was not goint to die.

"Thank you," I blurted out, trars of joy mixed with fear going down my cheeks. I got up from the floor, and went to hug it. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank y-"

"Shut up!" it roared, and I froze where I stood. "You! Shut! Up!"

In that moment, I heard the toilet flushing, and water running right after it. I turned my gaze to the door. Steve was going to come out of the bathroom, and I had a furious pokémon bent on revenge in my room. What could I do? Should I try to hide it, or to get him to help he against the Banette?

"You are going to shut your mouth about me, Al," it said in my head. "If you speak about me, I won't hesitate to kill you on the spot."

A cold shiver went down my legs. But hadn't it just said...?

"My revenge plans aren't set in stone." It half-closed its eyes and fixed its gaze at me. "You are going to go out, and be with your friend till he leaves, and not speak a word about me. If you do, I won't hesitate to kill you." Its long, slit-like pupils became fixed in mine, and I swallowed. "Is that understood, Al?" it asked, violent and threatening, just like a mafia boss in a movie I had seen not long ago.

I nodded weakly, and propmtly ran out of the door and to the entrance door. A few seconds later Steve appeared, an expression of complete relief in his face. I would have laughed at him, but I was too terrified for laughing.

"Sorry about that, man, don't know what hapened there." Steve stopped, and pointed at my face, clearly worried. "Something wrong, dude? You look as pale as a Bearctic."

My legs quivered. Oh, shoot, he'd realised. He'd realised.

"Pale?" I asked back, acting as if I hadn't had a telepathic conversation five minutes ago, and too afraid to realie that I had just got my voice back. "What're you saying, man? I'm perfectly fine."

Steve didn't look at all convinced, and for a second I feared he would press me with more questions. However, after a few seconds, he shrugged and shook his head.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Al," he said while grabing his school pack, and put it on his shoulder with a grunt. Steve turned to me and we bumped fists before he opened the flat door. "See you tomorrow at school."

"Tomorrow, man," I answered, and closed the door so fast that I slammed the door.

In an instant, I turned around and prepared to run to my room to tell the Banette the news. I had kept my end of our deal. It was time for it to keep its.

"Good job, Al," I heard in my mind, and I instantly stopped. The Banette was now in the corridor, merely half a meter in front of me. It smiled dangerously, and a shiver went down my back. "Time for me to maintain my word, isn't it?"

The Banette threw itself to the ground, and I saw four oins disappear from its yellow tail just before a roar of pure pain escaped from its mouth. Less than a second later, all the lights in the house went out.

"Hey, what the heck?" I heard Steve shout. I lived in the thirteenth floor, and he was too lazy to go down the thirteen storeys on foot.

Holding my breath, and unable to stop trembling, I look at the Banette, who was still on the floor, panting and clearly in pain.

"What... what are you doing?" I whispered.

The Bannete lifted its head, and its yellow zip-like teeth curved in the creepiest smile I had ever had. I heard Steve's first step as he went down the stairs, and right in that instant the pokemon's laught returned to my mind. It sounded so violently and crazed that I knelt down and covered my ears, trying in vain to get the sound of it out of my head.

A second roar of pain, ten times worse than the previous one, echoed inside my brain. When I directed my gaze at the pokémon, I noticed that the pins that covered its top half were gone.

And my heart sank when I realised what its actual plan had been all this time.

"Steve!" I shouted, springing to my feet and running to the door. But it was already too late.

A panicked scream pierced the walls of my home, and the sound of something falling down the stairs followed it. With cold sweat running down my forehead, I bolted to the top of the stairs. It couldn't be. It couldn't have done it. Steve couldn't be...

I screamed when I saw his body at thye bottom of the stairs, his neck bent in a position not een a yoga trainer could manage. He wasn't moving.

I fell down to my knees, and broke down. I cried for him for hours, asking him to forgive me. It was my fault. Everything had been my fault. Steve was dead because of me.

And while I cried my heart out, the Banette's demonic laugh echoed in my ears.

The strange deaths of people around me didn't stop there. A few months after that, Katie died, run over by the school bus. Oficially, the bus had got a flat tyre because of a strange black pin and lost control before running over her. Everyone believed it was an accident, and the driver didn't even get prison time. Only I knew the truth behind it.

A few months later, it was my grandparents, burnt to death in an unexplainable fire on their home in the outskirts of Terracotta Town.

And three weeks later, I was on Skyarrow Bridge, on top of the railing and ready to jup. I couldn't bear it anymore. I couldn't bear that, because of me, everyone I loved was in danger of dying.

I looked at the water, hundred of meters below the bridge, with teary eyes. I didn't want to die. I was just fourteen. But I knew that, as soon as I was gone, the strange accidents caused by my actions and Pashy's desire for revenge would stop happening.

It was only fair to them.

"Read to take the plunge, Al?" Pashy asked in my mind. I didn't know how it had found me, but I didn't care. All I wanted was to burn it to ashes, but deep down I knew it would be no use.

I tried to stop a sob, and failed miserably.

"This is what you wanted, right?" I asked, furious. "To destroy me like I destroyed you. Well, it looks like you made it."

The biggest smile that I had ever seen appeared on its face. For a moment, I thought about pushing it off the bridge, but decided against it. It's just return and made me die the most horrible death it could think of.

"You will stop killing people after I've jumped, right? My life for theirs. Do we have a deal?"

For a second, Pashy closed its eyes, as if thinking intensely. After a second, it opened them back again, and smiled.

"I have no interest in destroying your family, only you. We could say we do. However, I want just one little change on it."

No sooner had Pashy finished saying it, I felt a strong push on my back. With nothing to stop me, I lost my balance, and fell off the bridge.

The last thing I saw through the veil of tears on my eyes before hitting the water below me was the silouette of Pashy standing on the rail of Skyarrow Bridge.

The last thing I heard as I fell to my death was its demonic laugh, violent and delighted, echoing through my brain.


	6. Trick and treat

**Written for the Writers Anonymous Halloween Challenge.**

* * *

Tonight is the night. Pass it on.

At the house on the hill. Pass it on.

Treats for everybody. Pass it on.

Enough to last for a few months. Pass it on.

Be there or regret it. Pass it on.

The night was cold and cloudy, but it didn't deter the kids and teens in town from dressing up in scary costumes and go trick-or-treating around the neighbourhood. Hundreds of people had gathered on the streets, either on the hunt for treats, waiting to have a good time with friends, or merely watching the children.

A group of kids was walking down the longest street in the neighbourhood. All of them were dressed up in ghost pokémon costumes; two Gengar, a Dusclops, a Banette and a Mismagius, and they all had a Gourgeist-shaped Halloween bucket held by the handle, half filled at best. No adult was with them, as most of them had turned twelve in the previous months and had been deemed responsible enough to go on their own.

The dark-skinned girl in the Mismagius costume chomped on the caramel apple that she had just received from the elderly couple that owned the yellow house right before the crossing, and her gaze, along with her partners', became fixed in the huge, rainbow coloured mansion that sat on the top of a hill. The gay house, as it was commonly called around the neighbourhood, was the absolute highpoint of the Halloween night; since its sole inhabitant, a jolly old wmoan and the widow of a businessman who liked to wear green and adored children, always made sure not to leave any visitors she received empty handed. Legend had it that she once gave a toddler a pile of candy that weighed more than them.

What they didn't know, however, was that the beloved lady had passed away the week before, and that her house was now empty and silent; gone forever the love for children and the free candy.

But, unaware of the news, they continued their way to the gay house, chatting animatedly as they walked down the street. In a few minutes, they found themselves at the iron bars that opened in the brick wall that encircled the mansion. They were wide open, welcoming any visitors that wished to enter the state. An uphill way was born there, leading to the doors of the mansion, which sat atop the hill with all lights turned off, and what looked like a black chandelier hanging over the main door.

The five kids looked at each other, and smiled. They could barely wait to receive their candy from their beloved lady. One by one, they squeezed the handle of their Halloween bucket and entered the mansion.

As soon as they were inside the walls, two ghostly blue flames lit on two candles one on each side of the way. More and more lights did the same as they walked, creating two twin rivers of fire that moved towards the mansion at the same pace the costumed children walked.

Amazement written all over their faces, the kids neared the candles. They knew the old lady was rolling in money, and that she always spent a good deal of pokémon dollars in the Halloween decorations, but this easily surpassed all their expectations. With the lights out and the blue fire, the whole state looked like a mansion straight out of a horror film. They neared the candles, and they met another surprise, even bigger than the first. The blue flames didn't burn. No matter how long their hands were in contact with the flames, they felt no heat from them, nor were they burned.

If only they had had a close look at the candles, they'd have discovered the oval yellow eyes and the malevolent smiles that hid below what looked like a veil of molten wax.

Trick and treat.

A minute or two went by while the children contemplated the candles, after which they continued their way uphill, their hearts filled with anticipation. If the decorations at the entrance were so amazing, what else could possibly have the old lady prepared? Their minds ran wild with ideas. Turning the entrance into a cementery? A group of Misdreavus who played mischief with visitors? A Dusknoir who pretended to banish little kids to the Spirit World? Their hearts were pounding in their chests, and their breath sounded tired and panting, as if they had just ran a race.

But they paid no mind to their sudden tiredness, and continued towards the gay house.

It was the blonde girl in a Gengar costume who first suspected something was amiss when she noticed how heavy her legs felt. By that point, almost three quarters of the way had been traversed, and as many candles were lit. A quick glance at her friends revealed her that they all were in the same situation.

They had not run at any time during the night. They had not made any great effort. It was Sunday, and they had been able to sleep in. How was it possible that they were so exhausted?

She did not know. All she knew was that her energies had begun being drained after entering the state.

So the culprit had to be somebody, or something, inside the state.

Suddenly, the girl stopped and turned on her heels, icy fear in her chest and stomach. When her friends asked her where was she going, she answered, her blond hair standing on end, her thoughts on being drained from their energy.

Incredulity crept to their faces when she shared her thoughts with them, and panicked expressions appeared in them when they realised.

They all turned to leave, but before they could move a foot, a horrible, piercing scream immovilised them. Right after it was over, all the candles lit up, painting the way and the children with their bright supernatural blue.

Horrified gasps escaped from their throats when they felt their energy being drained from their bodies. Adrenaline raced through their bodies, prompting them to run away to save their lives. But the instant they tried to run away, their bodies failed them, and they collapsed on the ground. Terrified tears flowed from their eyes, and their lips whispered desperate pleas for their lives.

Cruel laughs and and candle flames burning brighter were their only answer.

The dark-skinned girl's body was the first to give up. She expired with her open moth, her right arm stretched, trying to reach her brother. Fortunately for him, he didn't see her sister die. Even if he was the last one to succumb, his head pointed upwards. The last thing his eyes saw were the clouds in the night sky.

Amidst the silence that coverered the state, the ghostly flames went out, hiding the five dead children in the darkness. The huge Chandelure that hung over the mansion door turned itself, revealing its empty yellow eyes and its straight mouth. It bent its body forward to look at the corpses, and its eyes glowed in a clear blue tone. So much energy still in those bodies. So many cells still alive, desperately and vainly trying to stay alive...

A flame, the same type that had burned on top of its fellow Litwick, started to burn in his insides, fueled by the life energy its comrades weren't able to absorb. Its gaze went forward, and the clear blue aura tinged its eyes once more.

A window opened on the first floor, slightly to the right of where the Chandelure hung. Envolved by the clear blue aura, the bodies of the five children levitated towards it, and were laid on the wooden floor of the room, effectively putting them out of the sight of any future visitors. A round of acute, malevolent laughter from the Litwick accompanied the act.

A piercing creak reached the pokémon, and their yellow eyes turned towards the source. A large group of costumed children, accompanied by two adults, had entered the state, completely unaware of the death of the old lady and the terrible fate that awaited them. Knowing smiles were exchanged between the Litwick while they awaited for them to fall right into their deadly trap.

Tonight is the night. Pass it on.

At the house on the hill. Pass it on.

Treats for everybody. Pass it on.

Enough to last for a few months. Pass it on.

Be there or regret it. Pass it on.

* * *

**I admit I did tweak Chandelure's pokédex description a bit, with it burning with energy instead of spirits. Even for a pokémon, burning spirits seems too incredible for me...**

**Anyway, hope you liked it.**


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